


A Day At a Time

by lesbianstark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, IronStrange, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, ironstrange au, no stress, nobody dies don’t worry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-07 15:24:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15222119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianstark/pseuds/lesbianstark
Summary: It’s been almost a year since the virus outbreak. Six months and two days, to be exact.Stephen Strange lives in his lab-turned-sanctuary, taking it day by day as he searches for a cure to the deadly virus.Then Tony Stark shows up.And he may just have the key to…everything.





	1. I am bit, I am alone

Life isn’t supposed to be easy. 

 

Stephen knew that.

 

But, as he opened the doors to his lab and the smell of pure  _ decay  _ hit his nose, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was meant to be this imperfect. 

 

Whenever the virus really hit and the whole world went to hell, everyone had abandoned their cars in traffic and left them running, ran from the meals they were cooking and left their stovetops going, were attacked and crashed whatever they were driving, etc. The chaos had been endless and spiraled out of control so fast that no one had time to anticipate for anything, so not only did the air around smell of death, but the surrounding area matched the aesthetic. Buildings burned and ransacted, cars turned over or abandoned, bodies littering the streets, undead or just  _ dead _ .

 

But, eh, he wasn’t complaining too much. It never did any good, and this was the norm. All he could do was roll with the punches and live day to day, working on a cure.

 

You see, Stephen was a scientist. He had previously worked with the CDC before he decided to branch out and do his own work, which had proven to become a blessing in disguise whenever the virus took over. Because of how much work he did on disease, his lab had a heavy lockdown system, showers, generators run by solar energy, and in the event that they ever had a serious lockdown, there had been a whole cellar full of nonperishable food that hadn’t been touched. It was his safehaven, and it had been where he immediately escaped to whenever everything went fuck-all. He was currently working on a cure using his lab as well, figuring that if anyone could, it could be him and the perfect situation he was in.

 

And being blunt, he didn’t have shit. It was hard to find, you know, bitten subjects that were willing to let him examine them until they died, and it was hard to determine how soon someone had been infected. The less decayed their brain, the better and more useful they were to Stephen. 

 

Still, even when he didn’t have perfect test conditions, he had to do something. Slipping on gloves and a mask so he didn’t actually puke from the smell, he stepped out of his lab and out to the sea of bodies that surrounded the outside. They would often stumble into the fence, and whenever they grew too high in numbers, Stephen would climb to the top of the building and take them out, and then use what he could for experiments. 

 

With a huff he approached the one that was the closest to the door and bent down, examining her for a minute. Female, maybe early twenties when she died. She wasn’t torn to pieces, which was always a shock, but had been bitten on the neck from what he could tell. She had probably been bitten and her family, unable to finish her off, just ended up letting her roam. A part of him felt terrible, but another part of him didn't have the time or energy to care anymore. It was a constant emotional battle.

 

He ended up grabbing the knife that he kept in his back pocket and pulled it out, doing his best not to focus on...everything too much as he cut her arm and head off, just below the bite.    
  


This could be somewhat useful, he thought, if she hasn’t been infected since the start of the virus.

 

With a heavy sigh, he walked back into the lab, pressing the button that sealed the doors closed before he rushed back into the lab so that he could put what he had just grabbed in the fridge.

 

_ And away from his face. _

 

Everyday he lost more and more motivation to continue his experiments, since he seemed to be getting absolutely nowhere, but he knew that if he didn’t do something he wasn’t going to be able to sleep at night. So, for now, he would just procrastinate.

 

Taking his gloves off, he threw them and the mask into the garbage, before he left the lab and headed to- what he had renovated as- the living are of the building. The glass doors sealed shut behind him as he left, and he heard the familiar puff of the air turn on, releasing a disinfectant into the lab that he’d just left behind.

 

Everything about this place was ideal. He still had a working television (with only DVD movies to watch, but he wasn’t complaining. Entertainment was entertainment), and he could even watch everything that happened outside thanks to the security system he’d had installed not even a month before the outbreak. Popping Shrek into the tv for the 800th time, he sat back on the couch and pulled his phone out, opening up the app that connected to the cameras so he could see if anymore undead had shown up outside.

 

(“Zombies” always seemed childish to him. Everyone had always made jokes that the “Zombie Apocalypse” could never happened, but it could, and it  _ did _ . The chaos was probably the thing that had hurt them the most. Humans were always destined to be their own destroyer, he supposed.)

 

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so he glanced up from his phone for a second to watch the beginning scenes. You wouldn’t expect a man like Stephen to watch something so silly, but kids movies helped. It reminded him of a time where people were alive, and well, and had time to make animated movies about an ogre and a donkey.

 

He was just about to lean back and click his phone off to relax, whenever--

 

_ Bang, bang, bang! _

 

Three loud raps on the door startled him enough to nearly knock him from the couch. Panicked, he looked down at his phone, shocked to see a man that looked about his age leaning against the door. He was visibly worn out and looked as if he hadn’t eaten in a while. And yet, he didn’t rush. He wanted to wait a second.

 

When everything went to hell, there had been three types of people in the outcome:

  1. The Undead
  2. Those who simply wanted to survive
  3. And those who realized they had all the freedom in the world, and let it get to their heads.



 

He’d had run-ins in the past with the third kind, and he wasn’t about to let it happen again, especially since the man didn't seem to be in any immediate danger.

 

He couldn’t tell at first, but putting his phone up to his ear he could make out the faint sound of something the man was saying. It seemed scripted, and on loop, like he had been practicing and planning on saying this for weeks, but didn’t have the energy anymore.

 

_ “My name is Tony Stark. I am bit, and I am alone. I just need some water. Please.” _

 

And at that, Stephen dropped the phone before rushing to the door. 


	2. Bitten or Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony makes his way inside the lab and things go from there

“My name is Tony Stark. I am bit, and I am alone. I just need some water. Please. My name is Tony Stark. I am bit, and I am alone. I just need some water. Please. My name is Ton--”

 

A gentle push against the doors knocked Tony out of his delirious state and pulled him from his dehydrated thoughts, and he was sure that the gates of heaven opening were going to sound similar to the sound of the lab doors opening. He hadn’t even been sure if anyone was even inside whenever he began knocking, but he heard the generators thrumming, and knew he had to try. 

 

He was faced with a man that had a worried look in his eyes and a gentle streak of gray in his hair and beard, but he didn’t get a chance to look at him long, because before he knew it, he had fallen against him and let out a broken cough. “Oh my god, oh my god, thank you,” he rasped, doing his best to regain his footing as the man dragged him inside and shut the doors behind him, “I-”

 

_ “It’s okay, just take it easy right now. Don’t overwork yourself.” _

 

His voice was deep, and calming. Tony liked it, and found himself instantly agreeing with whatever he was saying, especially since there was a good chance he would get something to drink in this joint. He wasn’t sure where the man was taking him, but a moment later, he felt something soft and cushiony underneath him and he groaned. Couch, bed, or whatever, he hadn’t laid on something that soft in forever.

 

Whenever the man pulled away, he could smell generic soap on him and smiled. Maybe this was heaven? It wouldn’t be surprising for Tony Stark to have a handsome man in his paradise. 

 

“I’ll get you some water, one second.” Stephen said, and Tony nodded, closing his eyes as he let the smell of clean air surround him. Oh yeah, this was heaven. He swallowed heavily and leaned his head back, letting his eyes close. It took a good portion of the energy he had left just to keep them open.

 

He was just about to fall asleep whenever the man’s voice startled him awake again, and he jumped slightly, opening his eyes to bet met with the man standing with a glass of water, knelt down in front of him. 

 

“How long have you been traveling?” He asked, helping Tony lean forward before he handed him the glass.

 

“About two months.” He rasped, his hands shaking as he brought the glass to his lips. It took every ounce of self-control he had not to chug the whole thing down within seconds, but with how empty his stomach was, he was smart enough to recognize that chugging  _ anything _ wouldn’t go well. 

 

“You said you were bit?”

 

He hesitated to answer, drinking more water first. Nobody wanted an infected in their house, especially not one that wanted food and water. If this man was going to kick him out, he wanted to drink some first, at least. 

So, he drank, still keeping it slow. The man waited patiently. Once the glass was empty, he handed it back to him, letting it all settle before he took a breath and sat up slightly. “Yeah, on my side.” He rasped, lifting his back off of the couch slightly so he could pull his shirt up, revealing the large bite mark on his side. It was crusted over with blood and clearly infected, and despite everything he had seen up to this point, Stephen couldn’t help but cringe at the sight of the wound. With the way it was looking, if he didn’t get it cleaned up and get rid of the dead tissue, the infection would kill him before the virus even had a chance to think about it.

 

“Well,” Stephen swallowed, “It didn’t take a huge chunk out of you, which is good.” He stood to put the glass away, but stopped whenever Tony’s voice choked out from behind him.

 

“You can just toss me outside and shoot me. I just don’t want to die hungry.”

 

Stephen sighed. He knew this scenario all too well. When bitten, it took the virus a good couple of weeks to actually take effect and weaken the host, but to every innocent that was bitten, it was just the end of the line. You either suffer through and risk the chance of hurting others when you turn, or you die. It was simple to those outside.

 

But Stephen wasn’t having it.

 

“Don’t be silly,” He said, sitting the glass on the counter, “No one should go out suffering. I can clean your wound, let you rest and have a warm shower, and then we’ll have a good meal. How does that sound?” He turned and leaned against the counter, his own mouth cocking up into a smile whenever Tony’s did. 

 

“You’d do that? For a complete stranger?”

 

“Of course. When we have nothing, we have to have faith in each other.” He pushed himself off of the counter and walked over to Tony, grabbing his arm so he could pull him off of the couch and let him lean against him. “I have spare beds, lets get you somewhere more comfortable, and I’ll get you some more water. I’m Stephen, by the way.”

 

Tony nodded, limping beside Stephen, vision blurry and eyes barely open, “No, you’re my hero.” 

 

Stephen laughed, “I’m just a man.”

 

A man with a perfect situation.

 

It took them a second since Stephen had to match Tony’s pace, but eventually, they made it to one of the spare rooms. It was tiny, nothing special, just a full sized bed with a lamp beside it, but there wasn’t much more room for anything else. He helped Tony onto the bed and watched him sink into it, letting out a groan as his muscles adjusted to lying down comfortably again. Within seconds, he was out, and Stephen turned the lamp off before he left and shut the bedroom door behind him.

 

Secretly, Stephen had always wanted this to happen. Some poor bitten would stumble up, in need of shelter, and Stephen could use them in search of a cure while making them comfortable. But now that it was happening, that was the last thing on his mind. He wanted to save Tony, even if he couldn’t save his life. He wanted to show him that, despite being bitten, there was still a little bit of life left that he could live and live happily. He wanted to try to give a new meaning to life, even in this hell hole they live in.

 

If he couldn’t find a cure physically, he was sure there was a metaphorical one hidden somewhere, mentally. 

 

At that thought, he decided to head to bed himself, knowing that Tony was probably going to out sleep him by a long shot.

 

*

 

Tony wasn’t sure how long he’d been out, but he knew that whenever he came to, his muscles were stiff, yet felt better than they had in a long time, and he felt like a whole new person. He was rested, his throat didn’t feel so disgusting and dried, his whole body didn’t feel as weak. He had faint memories of the man- stephen, he suddenly remembered- that had given him shelter waking him up occasionally, helping him sit up so he could drink some water before he laid him back down and let him rest.

 

He was still debating whether this was heaven or not.

 

With a groan, he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, stretching a minute before he-

 

_ What the hell?  _

 

He frowned at the feeling of something pulling at the skin on his side lightly, and quickly lifted his shirt up, shocked to find that the bite on his side had been bandaged nicely. It no longer smelled of pure infection, and out of curiosity, he gently pulled the bandage back, letting out a small huff of amusement whenever he seen that the wound had been completely cleaned and disinfected. The dead skin had been cut off, any infection cleaned out, and Stephen had even stitched it up carefully so it would heal better. 

 

He was just glad that he had been out whenever he disinfected it. He cringed just at the thought. 

 

Placing the bandages back down carefully, he stood, running a hand through his hair that was partially crusted over from rain, lying in dirt, and lack of a shower. God, he was a  _ mess _ . He hadn’t had a change of clothes in...god knows how long, and his last real shower had been months back.

 

Call him gross, but whenever water was pretty much shut off everywhere, and you were fighting for your life everywhere you went, you didn’t really have time to stop and think about showering any more than the next person.

 

He cracked the door open and peeked out, looking around a moment before he stepped out and began walking in what he assumed was the right direction. And sure enough, he was right. Stephen was sitting on the couch with his legs propped up on the coffee table in front of him, some shitty romcom playing as he worked on something on the clipboard in his lap.

 

If Tony didn’t have other things on his mind, he probably would have chuckled a little at the way he looked; reading glasses propped on the tip of his nose, tongue sticking out slightly as he scribbled away. 

 

“Uhm.” Tony cleared his throat, and Stephen jumped slightly, clearly surprised by Tony’s presence, but smiled at him all the same. “How long was I out?” 

 

“Three days. I tried waking you a few times, but it was obvious you needed the rest.” Stephen smiled as he took his reading glasses off, folding them up before he sat them on the coffee table along with his clipboard. Tony nodded a little and sighed, rubbing his eyes more as he sat down on the opposite end of Stephen.

 

“Thank you, for…” He lifted his shirt slightly and looked down at his wound, shrugging a little. He wasn’t sure how to approach anything about this situation right now. He felt more or less like a burden, just someone that was going to stay here and use up Stephen’s supplies until the virus got to him and he died. To Stephen, that fact was obvious just looking in Tony’s eyes. He gave him a soft smile and reached over, punching his shoulder lightly before he stood. 

 

“It’s no problem, of course.” He said, walking to the kitchen. “Your wound helped me a lot, actually.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I’m a scientist. This place is so...ideal, I suppose, because it was designed for work on diseases. Living area for emergencies, food, a separate water system to avoid contamination, an air-sealed lab area with emergency showers, emergency generators ran on solar energy, the whole shebang. I’ve been trying to find a cure using everything I have, but progress has been slow because it’s hard to come by many decent things to test on. But your wound alone was helpful.” He walked over to a small storage closet in the corner and opened it up, coming out with two fresh towels a moment later. “But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about all that. The showers are down the hall and to the right whenever you feel up to it.”

 

Tony met Stephen halfway to grab the towels, giving Stephen a polite smile. He would  _ love _ to hear about a possible cure any other time of the day, but as of right now, there was a promise of a warm shower and he was dying to get all of this built-up dirt and grime off of him. “Tell me about it after the shower?” He asked, throwing the towels over his shoulder as he turned, still looking back over to Stephen as he made his way toward the showers. Stephen smiled fondly and nodded, heading back to the couch so he could continue where he left off.

 

“Of course.”

 

Tony nodded at that and walked off, practically running whenever he was sure Stephen couldn’t see him anymore. A shower? With hot water? And Soap? He was going to orgasm before he got there.

 

He made it to the bathroom and immediately began stripping, just tossing his dirty clothes into the trash. There was nothing that could salvage them anymore, months of wear and tear evident on them, not to mention the stale smell. Taking a minute, he stopped to look at himself in the mirror, letting out a small sigh at the sight of... _ whoever  _ was staring back at him. He looked nothing like himself anymore. Aside from the slight bit of weight he had lost and small spots he had from not being able to properly care for himself for so long, there was a whole new man behind his eyes. Someone who had both seen and felt the effects of the world outside of those lab doors beyond measure. He glanced down at his bandaged wound and sighed.

 

_ They would’ve been so happy at this place. They would be happy to see you living, bitten or not. _

 

He shook the thoughts from his head and turned to turn the water on. He was here now, and all he could do was take life how it was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I don’t plan on making this uber angsty,,,any angst is there for the plot <3 this’ll be a feel good story i swear on my titty


	3. What’s Up, Doc?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony finally gets some food in his stomach and some things are hinted about things that happened before Tony showed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda a short chapter, sorry! I’m working on several things rn so I’m kinda constantly backed up :,)

Tony took his sweet time in the shower. He had nearly five months of dirt and grime to wash off that he hadn't had a chance to before, not to mention how fucking  _ good _ the warm water and decent soap felt. Before, if they showered, it was rarely with soap and, 90% of the time, using lake water in some stream they found.

 

Before the virus hit, this shower and the soap he was using would have been considered the bare minimum. But now, it was a luxury.

 

And it had all practically changed overnight.

 

He groaned as he massaged shampoo into his scalp gently, praying to whatever would listen and thanking them for the blessing that was hygiene. Words truly couldn't pay justice to the amount of relief Tony felt.

 

As he washed up, his mind began to wander. This place was truly a blessing that had been hidden away, though not purposely. Plenty of food, showers, several rooms, and a courteous scientist as a host. Washington, out of all the states Tony had passed through attempting to get to this place, had been hit the hardest. It was where the virus had first hit, and steadily spread from there. Naturally the center of it all would be in the worst condition. So to find this place, right smack dab in the middle of Washington? It was like finding a needle in a haystack and finding nirvana in the middle of hell all at the same time. 

 

Only a handful of people knew about this place, and now those handful of people (aside from Tony) were dead. Whenever Tony had began looking for a safer place to stay back in Florida, he had come across another group of survivors that were heading the opposite way. They had told Tony that they weren’t sure if anyone was still there anymore, but they used to work at a lab in Washington that would make for a good shelter for Tony’s situation. They had decided to head further down the map, though, in hopes of escaping the worst of the virus.

 

It proved to be fatal. And that was all Tony was going to think about that.

 

He had decided that, even though it was a trip across the map and the virus was much more widespread up north, that it was the best place to go. If he could find this place, it would provide the best long-term shelter he could hope for, but if he happened to find another good place somewhere else, then that was that.

 

Clearly, he hadn’t. Plus, he’d been attacked by a huge group of the undead a few days before he’d made it, and had almost managed to make it through them without a scratch.

 

That was obvious enough looking at the bite mark on his side.

 

He was thankful for this place nonetheless, even if he was only truly going to be here for a short time. Stephen could use him in the search for a cure, which made him feel loads better about using his supplies and shelter while he was alive. He was at least being helpful that way, whether alive or dead.

 

Or undead.

 

He shook his head and, once all of the shampoo was out of his hair, he decided that he was clean enough and turned the water off. Reaching outside to the little holder where he had hung the towel, he pulled it off and began toweling himself dry as he stepped out. Despite everything, he felt amazing, especially after the shower. Cleaning up his wound must have worked wonders.

 

Once he was nice and dry, and wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out, not sure what to do now that he had thrown his clothes away. Luckily, it looked like Stephen and him wore similar sizes, if he didn't have any other spare clothes that Tony could wear.

 

Whenever he stepped out, Stephen wasn’t still tucked away on the couch like Tony assumed he would be, but rather in the kitchen cooking something on the stove.

 

And whatever it was, it smelled  _ amazing _ . Tony’s stomach rumbled loudly and he suddenly realized how long it’d been since his last meal. He’d been so focused on his bite and being able to take a shower he hadn’t even realized how hungry he was.

 

(Whenever you travel from Florida to Washington with no permanent shelter and you have to scavenge for any supplies you need, you learn to ignore your wants and needs since you have no other choice.)

 

“Wow,” He said, raising his eyebrows in surprise, and Stephen turned around to look at him, “A scientist, a doctor, and a cook, huh? Is there anything you can’t do?” He smiled, holding onto his towel as he walked up to him.

 

Stephen laughed a little and turned to turn the temperature down on the stovetop, “I can’t sew.”

 

“Who can anymore?” Tony chuckled a little and looked around, getting a good look at the place for the first time, before he looked back at Stephen. “I...had to toss my clothes out. They smelled like pure shit.”

 

“That’s fine.” He shrugged a little and pointed to a door at his left. “I keep all of my clothes in the storage closet since the rooms don’t have actual closets. You can take your pick.” He turned back to the stove at that, stirring whatever was in the pot gently as Tony nodded and walked over to the door.

 

Still holding onto his towel, he opened up the storage closet and flicked the light on, looking around a second before he stepped inside. Some of the food that had been stored was locked away in here, along with cleaning supplies, extra toiletries, and men’s and women’s clothing.

 

Men’s and women’s? 

 

Tony shut the door behind him slightly, though still left it open a crack, and dropped the towel, reaching for a pair of spare boxers that were in the closet. “Is someone else here?”

 

“Nope,” Stephen called back as he took the pot off of the stove, “Just me.”

 

“Whose clothes are these then?”

 

Stephen froze for a second, having completely forgotten about those. He recovered just as fast though, pulling down two plastic bowls from the cabinets. “Just some spare clothes in case any women survivors show up.”

 

“Ah.” Tony didn’t seem phased and walked out of the closet a second later, wearing a pair of Stephen’s sweatpants and an old Adidas shirt that had probably been a workout shirt before everything. “So you planned on taking survivors when you showed up here?”

 

Stephen nodded, spooning soup from the pot into the two bowls he had pulled down as Tony took a seat on the barstools that were placed in front of the island. “Planned on it, yeah,” He said, nodding, “Not many people know about this place, though. I’m sure you and I are the only people with beating hearts within a 100 mile radius of this place.”

 

Tony and Stephen both would have liked to be hopeful and say,  _ nah! That’s probably not true, surely there are people tucked away somewhere in this city. _ But Tony, having been out there for days, and Stephen having been here for so long, knew that Stephen was probably right. This place was in horrible condition outside of the lab walls. If anyone were alive, they were probably passing through.

 

And unless they had Lady Luck with them at all times, they probably wouldn’t make it through. 

 

Stephen passed Tony a bowl of the soup he had made before he took a seat beside him. Tony began digging in immediately, moaning around his spoon with almost every bite he took. Even if the soup was made out of stored non-perishables, it was his first meal in ages, and he was on cloud nine. It was a blessing they even had food, anyways. Stephen ate his soup calmly and chuckled gently at Tony, though deep down, he felt terrible for him. He couldn’t imagine what it had been like living out there for so long. He’d been tucked away safely since the beginning of the outbreak, and had managed to miss the worst of it, aside from the very beginning. He had experienced loss even within these walls, so he could only imagine what it felt like being surrounded by loss and death at all times. He sighed and shook his head as he ate, deciding those were thoughts for another time. 

 

They ate quietly (Tony wasn’t in any condition to talk with the way he was stuffing his mouth) and once they were finished, they cleaned up before heading to the lab.

 

Stephen had Tony take his shirt off and sit on the examination table before he took his bandages off. While Tony had been asleep, he had done tests on the blood near the wound and the dead tissue and confirmed that it was infected. It was a certain particular kind of bacteria hidden within the bites that turned the victims, rather than killing them. Normally, once a person died with their brain still intact, they turned regardless of the bite. Stephen knew that much. But, if you were bitten, you didn't have to die. The virus would take over slowly until it took control of the hosts brainstem, and then that was it.

 

You were just like everyone else that ended up stumbling the streets. 

 

Tony kept his eyes ahead of him as Stephen examined his bite, not wanting to look at it. He was perfectly fine with dying, he had accepted that fact whenever he was first bitten. It was the overwhelming feeling of  _ failure _ that really got to him. The fact that he had made it so far, and now he was at the end of the line.

 

He let out a sigh whenever Stephen began putting the bandages back on the bite and turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow at him gently as he watched him take his glasses off and fold them up.

 

“So, doc, how long do I have?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m just gonna end every chapter with “IM NOT KILLING ANYONE IM NOT A HORRIBLE PERSON”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! kudos/comments really help keep a starving girl motivated!


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